Rohingya face Myanmar 'ethnic cleansing' UN official

Rohingya face Myanmar 'ethnic cleansing' UN official Rohingya face Myanmar 'ethnic cleansing': UN official Myanmar is carrying out "ethnic cleansing" of Rohingya Muslims, a United Nations official has said, as stories of gang rape, torture and murder emerge from among the thousands who have fled to Bangladesh. Up to 30,000 members of the ethnic community have abandoned their homes in Myanmar to escape the unfolding violence, the UN said, after troops poured into the narrow strip where they live earlier this month. John McKissick, head of the UN refugee agency UNHCR in the Bangladeshi border town of Cox's Bazar, told the BBC that troops were "killing men, shooting them, slaughtering children, raping women, burning and looting houses, forcing these people to cross the river" into Bangladesh. READ MORE: Who are the Rohingya? Bangladesh has resisted urgent international appeals to open its border to avert a humanitarian crisis, instead telling Myanmar it must do more to prevent the stateless Rohingya minority from entering. "It's very difficult for the Bangladeshi government to say the border is open because this would further encourage the government of Myanmar to continue the atrocities and push them out until they have achieved their ultimate goal of ethnic cleansing of the Muslim minority in Myanmar," McKissick said. A spokesman for Myanmar President Htin Kyaw criticised the comments. "I would like to question the professionalism and ethics which should be followed and respected by UN staff. He should speak based on concrete and true facts, he shouldn't make accusations," Zaw Htay told AFP news agency.